


Kill La College

by wellthizizdeprezzing



Category: Kill la Kill (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Character Death, F/M, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-06-09 11:19:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15266373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wellthizizdeprezzing/pseuds/wellthizizdeprezzing
Summary: Ryuko gets an all expanse paid ride to college. The only problem? Its president is a girl named Satsuki who is hell bent on making Ryuko suffer. Basically the plot of Kill La Kill but with older characters and more mature plot lines.





	1. It All Started with A Letter

**Author's Note:**

> Reposting this from my FFNet account. Wrote this a while back so my writing style is a bit different. Only edited for spelling mistakes.

Chapter One: It all Started with a Letter

Ryuko had barely managed to graduate from high school, so it came as a surprise when she received an acceptance letter to a college, one that she had never applied to or heard of before. Ryuko's first thought was oh shit, I'm going to college, quickly followed by a less pleasant second thought, this is probably fake. Ryuko had planned to get a job right after high school graduation; she deemed herself not smart enough to pursue a higher education, all she was really good at involved using her fists. Besides, she didn't have the money to pay for a college, even a community one, and she didn't want to burden the Mankanshoku's more than she already had. They were her adoptive family ever since her place had burned down, practically raising her despite the fact that they could barely support themselves. So Ryuko had decided to do what was best and what made sense, and stick to helping repay the family for their kindness in keeping her feed and clothed. That's why Ryuko, despite her original hype, barely spared a second glance at the pamphlet before going to toss it out, when she was unexpectedly intercepted by Mako, her best friend and adopted sister.

"Stop right there Ryuko-chan!" she exclaimed as she flung herself at Ryuko. Ryuko easily sidestepped, letting Mako crash into the living room couch.

"Why?" Ryuko asked, scratching her short unruly hair. "It's probably a scheme to get me to go to this college and then they'll charge me hella money and stuff. It has to be a scam."

"But Ryuko! I got the same thing!" Mako picked herself up, unfazed with crashing face first into the couch, and pulled out the same shiny pamphlet that Ryuko had received, before waving it around. "You know what this means! It means it must be fate the both of us got into the same college and for free! We have to go, we have to!" Mako's hands went above her head as she began her speech, moving around and taking up weird poses. "What would your dad say? He'd want you to go to college! I want you to go to college! My family wants you to go to college! So you better do it!" Ryuko let out a sigh at the end of Mako's impassioned speech. She hated when Mako did these speeches because they were so damn embarrassing to watch, but because she was also so damn good at convincing people when she did them.

Still Ryuko wouldn't cave in that easily. "Look, like I said before it's probably some scam or something. I'm not smart enough to get a college to even accept me." Then Ryuko's eyes widened a bit, "Wait, did you say it's a full ride?"

"Yup," Mako nodded her head crazy fast, her coconut hair cut flopping around. "The school gave us both a full ride."

"Huh, you don't say," Ryuko muttered. A full ride-for the both of them. Wow, this had to be a dream of some sort. But Ryuko shook her head. Mako was making it harder for her to accept the facts that she couldn't afford to go to college. "I didn't even apply to this school; I don't know anything about it."

"But Ryuko, you're plenty smart! And pretty! It's perfectly normal for colleges to send letters to great students! You just gotta believe. Remember that time that you got into that fight with the guy who had that gun! Everyone thought you would lose but you were like wham and bam and ka-pow, you outsmarted him and escaped alive!" Mako smiled at Ryuko as if that were something to be proud of.

"Mako, that's not exactly being smart, it's called being lucky. Colleges look for book smarts and I barely managed to graduate on time." Ryuko let out a huff as she recalled her high school years. She'd hated high school so much. She couldn't for the life of her focus on the lessons; everything went in through one ear and out the other. The only thing she excelled at, she soon realized, was to be disrespectful to the teachers and to pick fights with the students. The only good thing that came out of the four years was meeting Mako there. They'd bonded on the first day right off the bat. Ryuko had left her lunch at home when Mako shared her's. She was the only girl to still bring lunchboxes to school, and they were full of mystery croquettes. Ryuko had been reluctant to try them as they looked and smelled weird but soon found they were tastier than anything else and filled her with warmth and energy. That was also when Ryuko noticed that Mako ate a lot of food.

"Pleaseeeeeee?" Mako's whining brought Ryuko out of her memories. "Please can you do this for me?" Mako grabbed both of Ryuko's hands and looked at her with such expectation and hope that Ryuko felt her last wall of resolve crumble.

"Fine," Ryuko grumbled, "But if it's anything shady, we leave alright?"

"Yay!" Mako let go of Ryuko's hands and started twirling around excitedly around the room. Ryuko let out a chuckle as she watched Mako stumble and fall onto the carpet. Mako was the person she held most dearly and she owed her to at least try.

Later after the family had all gone to sleep, Ryuko sat propped up in her bed with the pamphlet she had received. Honnouji University was written on it in big fancy letters, below it pictures of a campus comprised of gray steel buildings. Well the campus sure looks cheery, Ryuko thought sarcastically. She opened the paper up and started reading the programs list. It turned out there was a bunch of academic buildings and such that a normal college would have. Ryuko did notice, however, that a lot of the programs were focused on the martial arts, or some form of fighting or sport. 

Huh, that's weird. 

Then Ryuko looked through her acceptance letter.

Dear Matoi,

We at Honnouji University are pleased to provide you with the opportunity to have the college experience for free. Your combat skills precede you and it would be our greatest honor if we could assist in helping them grow. Our University prides itself on taking the best fighters from around the globe and teaching them how to increase the potential they already have. Our students will be raised to bars they've never been raised to before, but not just physically. We also have a great academic program that will help you learn and overcome your mental barriers. With students as talented as you, it would be a waste to not have you attend college, so from the bottom of our hearts we implore you to take this opportunity and become someone.

Sincerely, Lady Kiryuin Satsuki, President of Honnouji University

Ryuko thought for a moment on what she had just read. It all sounded too good to be true. A school that would help her academically, as well as with her martial arts? How did they even know about her? Was her reputation for being a delinquent really that well-known? And how did Mako get an invitation as well? She wasn't a fighter and she actually tried in school. But she did win the Underachiever of the Year award in their high school so maybe that counted against her. Ryuko shook her head. She still had a week before having to send in her reply to the school. Maybe she'd think about it then. For now she was tired. She put the papers back where they belonged and then turned off the lights to go to sleep.

KLK

Two months later and Ryuko found herself standing in front of her old home. The place hadn't been touched in all the years it stood here, charred wood and the smell of ash as poignant as the day it had happened. Tomorrow, Ryuko would be leaving to college with Mako, all of their measly belongings packed into one large suitcase. Ryuko still couldn't believe it was happening. It all seemed so surreal. She had thought she would stay in this town, working three jobs trying to make ends meet until the day she died, but now it looked like grander things awaited her future. And for that she was pleased.

"Hey dad," she greeted as she entered the ruins of the house. She clenched a handful of daisies she had plucked before coming here and placed it on the burned remains of a chair- the only furniture that was still intact.

"Guess what?" she prompted to the empty house. Flies lazily flew around her as she continued walking around, soot rubbing off on her ratty white shoes. "I'm on my way to college. Seems pretty crazy, huh? I'd never thought I would go ya know but it's happening and I feel kind of...glad and maybe even scared," Ryuko confessed as she stopped and let her fingers trace a jutting piece of wood that used to belong to the door frame of her father's room. "But I'll be back, don't worry. And I'll make sure to visit ya. I know how lonely you can get." Ryuko smirked before shoving her hands into her black jersey jacket and continuing to walk around. She wanted to memorize this place, to etch it into her bones. While most people would have found visiting the scene of an accident or horrible event traumatizing, Ryuko didn't. Instead, she loved visiting here because it was where she'd had good memories, it was where she had grown up, and most importantly, it was where her father had been.

Ryuko lost in her thoughts, didn't notice the creaking of wood underneath her feet or the slight shifting of the ground before it was too late. The floor ripped open underneath her and she let out a scream that was cut short by her impact with the ground. Sitting up slowly and coughing hard to try and breathe, she noticed through all the dust she had unsettled, that she was in a basement of shorts. Junk littered the ground and she had fallen into a particularly big pile of it. The hole she had fallen through wasn't too far out of reach and she could probably reach it if she stood on something tall. Relieved that she wouldn't be stuck here Ryuko took to exploring the place she had fallen into. It must've been her father's lab because Ryuko had never been inside it. Most of the stuff here had survived in better condition than what was upstairs. She walked around in the dim light making out the shapes of various chemist sets, mechanical gizmos, and her father's desk. On it she found something that made her heart skip a beat. There was a big box on top that had the letters Ryuko printed on it. Cautiously wiping the cobwebs from it, she opened the lid. Inside there was one half of a pair of red scissors, gleaming in the darkness and underneath there was a leather jacket. Ryuko picked both items up her breath coming in small gasps. In red lettering Senketsu was spelled out on the jackets back. The jacket looked to be about her size now and Ryuko swallowed angrily. This, this was what her father had died for? For a stupid jacket and pair of scissors?!

Memories flashed in Ryuko's eyes. She had been twelve at the time, back home on a break from boarding school when it had all happened. The fire had started and spread so quickly. Her father had carried her out of the house across the block where people were starting to gather in spectacle.

"Dad, what's going on?" Ryuko asked confused and horrified as the house she had grown up in incinerated before her eyes.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine," Her father had reassured her before he straightened up, his face frozen in horrid realization. "Oh no, your birthday gifts!" With that he hobbled over to the house whose angry flames greeted him eagerly.

"No dad, stop!" Ryuko howled as a neighbor held her back from following her father. "Dad, I don't care about the stupid presents, I don't care! Just come back!"

But her father had disappeared into the blaze and even once the firefighters had arrived, he hadn't remerged.

As the memories faded from her vision Ryuko threw down the jacket with flourish. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" She growled as she stomped the jacket over and over again. "Why'd dad have to go back for you, huh? You're just a stupid, stupid, stupid fucking jacket!" Ryuko screamed, her echoes ringing off the stone walls.

She stood over the jacket, breathing hard. She felt a stinging in her hand and realized that she had been clenching her hand so hard that she'd cut herself with the small blade. She stood staring at the cut in her hand as fresh blood pooled up and fell off her hand onto the jacket. The pain brought clarity to her head and she calmed down. There was no point in continuing her rant or else she'd only get worse and feel the need to start beating something or someone up, and she didn't want to ruin her first day of college. Ryuko tossed the blade aside and was about to leave when she realized she couldn't move. The jacket underneath her feet had wrapped itself around her legs and was writhing uncontrollably. The fuck-! Ryuko thought before the jacket burst into life and tackled her.

"Ahhh! Get off!" Ryuko yelled as she tried to peel the offending article of clothing off of her. But the jacket just wrapped its arms around her tighter and screamed at her, "Why'd you have to stomp me for? You know how much that hurts? Why did you have to be so cruel, master?"

Master? Ryuko thought confusedly. "I'm no master of yours," she grunted as she finally flung the article of clothing away. But that didn't stop it. It tried to launch its self at her again so she dove for the nearest weapon she could think of and pulled up the small scissor blade. The jacket stopped short at this and stood in front of Ryuko, sleeves up in surrender, as she slowly stood up from where she had slid onto the floor to get the blade.

"But you are my master. Now at least," The jacket said in a subdued tone.

"What's going on?" Ryuko stammered. Was she going crazy? Had she inhaled the smell of smoke for too long? Had it all been a dream; yes it would make sense. After all, getting into college for free-psh when would that ever happen. But if this was a dream why hadn't she woken up when she'd cut herself? The pain would have been enough to jar her awake.

"Ryuko," the jacket started to which Ryuko groaned and covered her eyes with her free hand temporarily, muttering out, "How do you know my name?" which the jacket ignored before continuing. "Your father created me in order to help you. I'm not sure what for, maybe he wants to me to protect you, but I promise you I mean you no harm."

Ryuko swallowed hard. "My father died to save a talking jacket that was meant to protect me. Well, that's something you don't see every day."

"Please Ryuko, I'm here to help you", the jacket pleaded as she looked down upon it with cold hard eyes. No one moved for what felt like ages while Ryuko made her decision. At last her cold gaze softened and she put away the scissor blade she had been holding. Senketsu was the only physical remaining thing she had from her father and no matter how odd it was, she couldn't give up on it.

"You're coming with me," she grunted to which Senketsu moved to go towards her, "Uh uh, you keep your distance. Don't go touching me." With that she marched off and the jacket followed. It surely was going to be a weird way to start off college.


	2. It All Started With Glowing Lights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited for grammar but otherwise the same content.

Chapter Two: It all Started with Glowing Lights

Honnouji University. The name was spelled out in intimidating letters in an arch above the entrance to the school, and Ryuko took a second to admire it. Yes, she had finally made it to college, through one miracle or another. Allowing herself a mental congratulatory pat on the shoulder, she hurried after Mako who had followed the quietly chatting crowd of people that were making their way onto the campus.

They had arrived at Honnouji University and it looked as bleak in person as it had on the pamphlet. It was like color and happiness was forbidden here. Stone pathways lined everything and there wasn't a single piece of flora around, giving the campus a sterile feel. Even the sky was gray and overcast despite it being noon. Gray buildings towered over them casting malignant shadows, and campus security guards with ashen faces, all dressed in gray attires with single stars on them, silently followed the incoming students. Ryuko felt unnerved by them and tried to avoid their penetrating gaze. The students had all fallen silent now with the anticipation of what was to come. Ryuko could sense something big brewing too. This was like the moment when a video game boss was going to pop out on your guild; you just didn't know when or if you could handle it.

They continued into a giant plaza, which according to the map one of the security guards had given her, was in the middle of the campus. They were going to have the introduction ceremony and then be sent off to their orientations but Ryuko couldn't help but be restless. The crowd in which they stood in seemed to be comprised of shady figures; guys as tall as buildings, women with muscles ripped to the max, all looking as if they couldn't wait to get their hands on someone. What was up with this crowd? Was it normal for a college to have this many hooligans in one place? Ryuko instinctively took a defensive stance and nudged Mako closer to her, who was staring open mouthed at this buff guy. The buff guy noticed this stare and started glaring back to discourage Mako but she just smiled at him like an idiot.

"Mako cut it out," Ryuko hissed. "That guy is not the friendly type."

"It's okay Ryuko," Mako said patting her friends hand assuredly. "He's just afraid of smiling like you are."

Ryuko grumbled, about to respond that she just didn't have a reason to smile, when the loudspeakers surrounding the square blared causing everyone to flinch. A stage had appeared in front of the crowd and was steadily rising upwards while the loudspeakers started a barrage of words.

"Incoming freshman of Honnouji University, I greet you!" The woman's voice was cold and harsh, made only more unforgiving by the metallic detached sound of the speakers. The crowd swung their heads around looking for who could be possibly greeting them, but no one had appeared yet. The security guards that had escorted them there had disappeared and Ryuko felt more unease trickle in.

"You have come from cities, towns, and countries from all over the world in order to answer the mighty summons I have sent you!" Floodlights suddenly lit up the left side of the plaza and everyone in the crowd let out a groan as the blinding lights caught them off guard. "But these summons are not to be taken lightly as the road before you is laden with danger and difficulty. It is not one for the weak!" More floodlights turned on, this time from the right side.

"Oooo more lights! I love this. Are we gonna see a show?" Mako exclaimed loudly while Ryuko shushed her as the voice started to speak again.

"You have all been selected and given this opportunity because you are the best at what you do, whether be you fight with bite or bark. You have been given this opportunity, to better yourselves, to be all you can be!"

Floodlights hit the crowd this time from the back and Ryuko let out an annoyed groan. Was this person planning on blinding them all with these lights? She could already barely keep her eyes open for more than ten seconds before they started to water. A faint clank was heard as the stage before them finally finished its climb. It had narrowed out as it reached the heavens and was now so thin it was like a pedestal, fit for one person.

"But this opportunity is not only for the benefit of you. It is for the benefit of humanity! The very world's fate is in your hands!" Ryuko snorted at that. Someone's a bit overdramatic. "Failure to adhere to the rules and procedures meant to guide you will not be taken flippantly. The world's fate is not something to be toyed with!" The voice was getting more and more passionate and Ryuko noticed the loud click clack of heels, as if someone was climbing up onto the stage. "Some of you will simply not make it, for that I am not sorry. You must be willing to sacrifice flesh, blood, and tears to solider ahead. But I have no doubts that we will succeed!"

At last a figure reached the top of the pedestal and Ryuko immediately turned her attention to it, in hopes of catching a glimpse of who was there. But floodlights from behind the stage turned on, overpowering all of Ryuko's senses. "Mako cover your eyes." Ryuko placed one hand over Mako's gaze, which had somehow managed to be unaffected by any of the lights, before throwing a hand over her own. The crowd reacted in a similar fashion, gasps of astonishment filling the air.

Loud music blared from the loudspeakers and Ryuko cringed. The volume had increased and it was enough to cause the music to echo painfully throughout her head.

"I, Satsuki Kiryuin, wish you freshman a successful year at Honnouji University. May your school year begin!" Satsuki's voice rang out, if possible, even louder than the music, leaving everyone trembling in their boots. Ryuko forced a peek through her fingers to catch a glimpse of who their speaker had been but the glare made her eyes tear badly and all she noticed was the outline of someone with long flowing hair. The stage had begun a rapid descent and by the time it was almost halfway gone the music and lights turned off. Struck by the absence of stimuli Ryuko's senses nosedived and she felt like a newborn incapable of hearing or seeing anything. She angrily rubbed her eyes to try and see something but all she could discern was spots on her vision. She glanced at the spot Satsuki had been in, but she was long gone. That sly bitch, Ryuko thought. The bright lights, when turned off, would cause people's eyesight's to get messed up so then she could slink away unnoticed.

"Wow that was so cool!" Mako exclaimed hugging Ryuko so hard her ribs hurt. "Mako's excited to go to school here now, yes she is! And the school president is so pretty." Mako smiled, her bloodshot eyes resembling steaming eggs after she'd glared into the lights directly.

"Wait, you saw her? What did she look like?" Ryuko inquired.

"Hmmm," Mako put her hand to her chin and tapped at it. "Well, she was very pretty but I was busy looking at all the other people here. They all look so interesting." Ryuko let out a groan. Of course Mako would happen to see the president but not pay attention to her.

The guards had silently returned now and were herding the group of students up to one of the academic buildings. Freshman orientation was taking place and all three hundred students piled into the giant auditorium. The inside was as plain and unappealing as the outside but, as Ryuko sat down in the blue chairs, at least the seats were comfortable. She slouched in her seat in the back row while Mako took one next to her and immediately made binoculars with her hands to see better. Ryuko had told Mako to get glasses if she couldn't see, but she claimed that doing this with her hands, if not cooler looking, actually helped her. Ryuko found it to be a lost cause to argue with Mako especially when she put her arms over her head and the hallelujah music played. How Mako would always have that music timed right, Ryuko would never know. It was one of the secrets of Mako.

The students squirmed in their seats impatiently talking to one another. Some of them looked too big to even fit in the chairs and some too old to even be students. The guy right next to her had sagging skin. Just what exactly was up?

"Alright listen up everyone." The opening and closing of a door signaled the arrival of a teacher. Peering in through the spaces of people's head Ryuko noticed that he was tall and heavily muscled, but his voice certainly did not match. It was too feminine to match his tough guy appearance. Apparently some students thought the same thing and snickered.

This did not go unnoticed by the teacher who cleared his throat and glared at them as he took his place in front of a podium before the rows of seats. "You're now all officially freshman," he announced to which the students let out hoots and hollers, some pounding on their chests. "Calm down," he muttered and slammed his hands on the podium repeatedly, silencing the kids. "You won't be as excited in a couple days, I can guarantee ya. Anyways, let's get straight to business. After all, that's why y'all are here-not to have fun." Some groans at that which caused the teacher to send another glare.

"This college is not like any others. There will be studying and hard work, long hours of staying up and perfecting your craft, but there will be no time for romantic relationships, for goofing off, or for partying!" At this more students groaned and enraged chatter filled the air. 

This sounds terrible! All work and no play. Man, I was hoping to go to a college party. I hear their legendary! Ryuko complained internally.

"Silence!" the teacher yelled slapping his hands down on the podium again. It took longer for the students to quiet down this time but when they did so, the man took a deep breath and continued. "The objective of Honnouji University is simple. Succeed. In any way possible. Failure is not accepted frivolously here. There are three main departments at Honnouji: the academics, the arts, and the physical. Each of you has been assigned to the one most fit for you and a four year curriculum has already been designed for you. So you don't have to worry about picking classes or majors. Our departments of student resources have already done that for you."

There were grumbles of protests at this. Ryuko didn't particularly care. She was just glad to be in college for free, no matter how weird it already had started off as. One kid yelled out, "That's not fair! If we are expected to give our best to you all, at least we should have the freedom to choose!" There were murmurs of agreement and teacher looked about ready to explode, when from the loudspeaker that had descended from the ceiling randomly, words blared over.

"Freedom is subjugation and subjugation is freedom! If we give you choice, those choices will lead you to your ruin! Therefore, if you obey what you have been given, only then can you truly be free to see what paths lie before you! Keep this in mind as you pursue your education at Honnouji University." The speaker ascended back to the hole it had come from, leaving slightly shocked students behiund. Ryuko gripped her arms chairs harder. She didn't do well with authority, especially such strict one. This was not going to end well for someone and she didn't plan on that someone being her.

"As Lady Satsuki said, we do this because freedom can corrupt you. Unless you have the necessary discipline to carry out your own freedom we will take the reins on that," the teacher smiled, cracking his knuckles. "If you have any complaints you can take them up with the department of discipline and they will be more than happy to kick you out. Everything that was expected of you was listed in the small blue handbook you had received in the package, but I take it that many of you haven't read that."

What blue book? Ryuko thought and then remembered with a half groan. Yea, there had been a book. But had she read it? No way.

Hearing the rest of the moans and muttered curse words from his audience the teacher smiled even harder. "I suggest you all read it unless you wanna take a one way trip to the head of discipline. As I was saying before, everything is predetermined but there are chances of changing it should your specialty change. Each department's goals are different but the same. The goal: to succeed. There is no friendship here; it'll only hinder you when you must strike the final blow. Academic majors must focus on sharpening their wit. The only way to succeed for you is to excel at academic tasks given before you, to invent and give life to new meanings. For art majors, creating something that can reach the soul whether it is visual or through the ears and hearts of people is a must, as is the sharpening of your talents into a deadly symphony of paint and dialogues. For physical majors, why yours are the most simple of all. Sharpen your skills to the point that your pure strength cannot be stopped by even the most powerful of shields. All of you build yourself up until you surpass your colleagues and can challenge the heads of each of your departments. And for those of you truly driven by your goals, you can claim the greatest prize; a fight with Lady Satsuki herself."

The teacher smiled, his voice reaching a fevered pitch, his hands spread out in grand flourish as he had managed to finally capture everyone's attention in the room. Even Ryuko had sat up, her heart pounding with unexplained excitement. Man, a school that was all about fighting. Had she ended up in heaven somehow when she'd taken that fall into her father's basement yesterday? Seeing that the room was still silent with astonished faces, the man continued. "The goal of this school is to teach you discipline, expatiate your talents and help revolutionize the world. Like Lady Satsuki told you, this school is no joke. Everything here will be provided for you but you will be expected to give back just as much as you have received. Now, without further discussion, line up and take your schedules." The creaking of chairs signified the end of the orientation and Ryuko and Mako got in line for the schedules along with the other students.

After waiting in line for half an hour, Ryuko took a single look at her schedule and was sent reeling. "What is this!" she growled threatening to crumble the paper up. Her schedule was packed. What was this? High school again?

Her day started at eight in the morning with a Pilate's class, followed by cardio, weight lifting, and gymnastics classes all before twelve. Then a break for lunch, but right after it was back to business with a wrestling class, some international affairs, modern psychology, defense training, fight club, the day finally rounded up with zumba. "What is this shit?" Ryuko sputtered out again, disbelief filling her. Her day ended at freaking six pm. Six pm! The fuck were all these classes for! What was the rest of the four years going to look like?

"Hey cheer up Ryuko!" Mako hit her livid friend across the back playfully. "At least we have some classes together!"

When Ryuko still didn't say anything Mako raised her hands above her head in her signature move which Ryuko quickly pulled down. "Okay, I'm okay," She muttered. She didn't need Mako pulling this shit now.

A loud voice belonging to one of the guards that had stuck with the group rang out. "Now that everyone has their schedules divide up into groups. We're taking a campus tour."

Mako and Ryuko went to the same group. The tour took forever to complete and Ryuko's legs were tired by the end of it. Even Mako with her boundless energy was looking a bit drained. Ryuko's head, which was already spinning from all the information from the orientation, had a hard time following the influx of data from the tour so she drowned most of the words out; she was terrible at paying attention anyways. The campus had looked so much smaller on the map than in actuality. There were a lot of buildings with many complex names that Ryuko couldn't bother to remember or pronounce. What was helpful though, was that the campus was divided into four parts. The academic part was on the north part of the campus. The buildings were a light gray here and mainly consisted of labs or libraries. One building that stood out to Ryuko was a low lying one. Neon lights flashed through the windows and computerized noises could be heard coming from there. Ryuko was going to ask about it when one of the guards that had been leading the tour answered someone else that had the same question. "That is the head's of the academics departments place. Boss battles with him are to be requested here."

The west side of campus was dedicated to the arts, the stone gray buildings comprising mostly of stages and studios. Ryuko figured she wouldn't be here much on this side anyways. She was a complete failure at arts and crafts. At least with academics there was some hope. Once again there was a different looking building. Ryuko figured it must have belonged to the head of the arts department; loud music was coming from inside, the bass turned up so much that window panes rattled every time it dropped.

The south quad was dedicated to the physical majors. The darker gray buildings representing classrooms were few; most being gyms or open fields to play sports on. Ryuko figured she'd be spending most of her time here. The house belonging to the head of the department was unexpectedly silent and Ryuko felt a bit disappointed. She had hoped to get to sense her head a bit better so she could more easily crush him.

The guard led them up to an iron fence on the east side of campus. Behind it she could see more boring buildings. "This place is locked up all the time. No one is to go here on pain of punishment. This is where the department of discipline resides as well as Lady Satsuki." The guard cast a look at the students who were elbowing each other. "I'm serious. Enter here at your own risk." The guard turned the group away and Ryuko shot a longing look past the fence. If she was to truly succeed here, she'd have to fight Satsuki. 

I wonder if she's as tough as everyone makes it seem.

At last the guard deposited the tired group before a bunch of classy looking dorms. The dorms and dining hall were all built around the giant plaza in the middle of the campus. "Alright you cretins, get your behinds in there. Quiet hours at all times and lights out at 10pm. No complaints and no breaking of the rules, unless you want us to break you. Then that would be a pleasure!" The man snorted in excitement and Ryuko felt disgust. This guy was certainly a creep.

"Ryuko! Let's check out the dorms!" Mako exclaimed dragging her friend around as the group disbanded and the students went their own way.

"Mako I'm tired," Ryuko complained but followed. The dorms were clean with nice looking upholstery in the common rooms- "Omg is that a flat screen TV!" Mako gushed running up to it and staring at her own reflection in the TV. There was a kitchen, "Now I can make my croquettes!" Mako nodded in approval. The bathrooms provided lots of privacy and had both tubs and showers. Their bedroom- which they were sharing as roommates, which was unbelievably lucky- was more spacious than their whole house but it lacked any sense of familiarity. The walls were bare, but nothing Ryuko couldn't fix up with some posters. Their one suitcase was already there and they quickly unpacked everything, their clothes looking meager in the amount of space they now possessed.

"Man I've waiting for these all day!" Mako pulled out a bento box from inside her shirt and laid it out so the both of them could share. Ryuko's stomach rumbled and she suddenly realized how hungry she was.

"So what do you about the school so far?" Mako asked as she gulped down the croquettes and poured hot tea into her mouth simultaneously without managing to choke.

"It's alright so far I guess. I mean, it's a bit weird, it's not like any school I've been to before but I think I can do it," Ryuko contemplated while she stared down her food.

"Want some tea?" Mako offered her thermos which Ryuko politely declined. Mako had pulled that out of her skirt. Ryuko was definitely not touching it no matter how much she loved the girl.

"I think Ryuko will do just fine!" Mako smiled, pausing in her meal before returning with extra vengeance and finishing her portion up. "I'm gonna go to sleep now," Mako jumped onto her bed and rolled up into a burrito using the blankets. Ryuko chuckled patting the already sleeping girls head. Then she finished her meal, cleaned up after herself, and laid down on her bed. She stared at her ceiling thinking and thinking about her future until finally she fell asleep.


	3. It All Started with the First Day of Classes

Ryuko took the bag of ice offered to her by the nurse and gingerly upheld it to her swollen face. She let out a gentle sigh as the coldness numbed her bruised cheeks. Everything and anything that could go wrong on the first day of classes had. She'd gotten lost on her way to her first class, Pilates, because everything had been labeled so confusingly, resulting in her being late by half an hour. She'd tried to sneak in unnoticed but failed.

"Matoi!" Barked the teacher as soon as Ryuko had quietly entered the room. Everyone's head swiveled around to see her and the trouble she was about to get into. "You're half an hour late to your first class of the school year. Any reason why?"

"I got lost, I couldn't find my class." Ryuko mumbled, sleep still weighing heavily on her tongue.

"Excuses will not be accepted! You should have found this class beforehand. That's one strike Matoi, two more and you're going to the department of discipline. Now take a mat and catch up with your diligent,  _on time_  classmates."

Then in cardio and weight training class she got her ears yelled off by the extremely vocal coach who thought Ryuko wasn't giving it her all. Ryuko grumbled angrily; she had still not properly woken up. Her day began at twelve not eight am. He made her stay back after class to redo all her exercises, causing her to wobble unsteadily to her next class and yet again be late.

"Matoi!" yelled her teacher for her gymnastics class. "This is the second time you were late today."

"My teacher held me back in my last class and made me redo all my exercises. It's not my fault!" Ryuko's tongue had gained its sharp edge as the cardio and weight training classes had gotten her blood pumping.

"It is your fault. A teacher has the right to make you stay behind and redo all your work if it is unsatisfactory. Now shut your mouth before I make you do the same!"

Ryuko gritted her teeth but shouldered off her book bag and then set to work.

Lunch passed by too quickly and Ryuko barely got a chance to talk to Mako who ended her lunch period when Ryuko started hers. So Ryuko had sat at a one person table and grouchily ate the food, which was surprisingly delicious, before she raced off to her next class.

Wrestling class knocked her out on her back quite literally. They started wrestling right from the start and apparently they weren't doing weight class, because the guy Ryuko was paired up with looked to certainly be more than 300 pounds.

She turned her head to protest this fact when the coach blew the whistle to start and she found herself gasping for air, stars dancing in her vision as the guy tackled her to the floor. She was out for the rest of the class, adding a sore back to the list of increasingly sore body parts.

She barely made it to her international affairs class and then came one minute late to her psychology class.

"Department of Discipline, Matoi!" the teacher pointed his finger at the door without even looking up at her.

"But it's just a minute!" Ryuko snarled. Her exhaustion from the day's excursions and the unfairness of the situation made her curl her fists.

"A minute makes all the difference when it comes to matters of life and death, now off with you." The teacher whistled at her as if she were a dog, still not looking at her, gaze on his papers. Ryuko planted her feet down firmly on the ground, refusing to leave.

"You're disrupting my class, Matoi, leave or you will leave by force."

Ryuko fought her anger so as to calm down. No good would come out of this if she chose to fight. She had to do this for Mako. Giving a stomp with her foot she left the room only to be greeted by a guard waiting for her.

"I'm here to see you to the department," he intoned and Ryuko followed him, trying to keep her anger in check.

The guard took her to the black gates and as they slowly opened up by some invisible hands Ryuko let out a snort. She'd planned on getting behind the gate but not like this.

Now that it was a school day security guards were milling around, chatting to one another in hushed tones. The buildings created a half circle barrier in between the gates, and what Ryuko could only assume was the Kiryuin mansion. It was white, tinged with blue, and looked like it came out straight from the medieval ages.  _Well someone's certainly a bit of a showoff._ The guard deposited Ryuko in one of the buildings in a small room that looked like it was fit for interrogations right out of TV crime shows. "Wait here," the guard muttered before leaving. Ryuko sat down in the chair, and tapped her fingers across the desk while she waited.

A woman came in some time later and spread out her papers while taking the seat across from Ryuko. She looked young, like she could be a student here and after examining the notes some more she swept them back in the manila folder she had with her.

Then she looked up at Ryuko her expression and voice blank. "You've had three infractions already Matoi, all involving tardiness. It seems you need to know the meaning of on time. Therefore, as an appropriate punishment, for the rest of the week you are to be an hour early to your first class and your lunch break is now cut in half."

Ryuko grit back a retort, she had to stay strong. It was fine, she'd make it. It was only an extra hour in the mornings and just less lunch time. Clenching and unclenching her hands to remain calm, she let out a long breath through her nose.

"You are dismissed. Make sure this doesn't happen again." Ryuko grabbed her things and left as fast as she could. She still had other classes she needed to attend to and she couldn't be late for those.

Defense training turned out to be more fun then she'd thought it would be. They went over slides on defensive techniques that they would soon get to test out. And the teacher seemed much kinder than the previous ones; in fact the way he spoke made it enjoyable to listen, even if he got into boring nitty-gritty details. Then came fight club, the class Ryuko was most excited for. She was itching to let out some steam after today's events and what better place than a class where she was not only allowed to fight but got grades for it as well. Also, it was her one class, besides Zumba that she had with Mako.

Ryuko stayed on the edge of her toes as the teacher for that class, a balding old man with a six pack and bulging biceps, slowly went over the procedures and rules for the club. Finally, when he'd finished he turned to the class who was all shifting around eagerly and said, "Who's ready to fight?"

The class let out a cheer and stamped their feet excitedly. Mako looked at Ryuko and smiled. "It's your turn to shine girl, go get 'em."

The teacher quieted down the class by clapping loudly. "Unfortunately we don't have time for all of you to fight today, but we will be able to have a match. The two students I've suggested are Takaharu Fukuroda, and our little troublemaker, Ryuko Matoi."

Ryuko felt an angry blush settle on her cheek but pushed it away. She was going to show them what she was capable of. The class pushed to the sides of the room to make space in the middle for the two warring factions. Takaharu a small guy with red hair, who was wearing nothing but boxing shorts, approached her with a nasty smirk on his face. "This is gonna be too easy," he drawled.

"I wouldn't bet on that," Ryuko muttered. The ground beneath them shifted as mechanics whirred and brought up a boxing ring for them to fight in.

"The match is three rounds, three minutes each. The first to be knocked out is the loser. And remember keep it civil." The teacher smirked before he pressed the buzzer that signaled the start of the match.

Ryuko paced at the end of her ring, appraising her opponent. He was small and scrawny, nothing a few good punches and tackles couldn't take down. If she settled for a fake out, and made to punch his stomach but actually sent a jab to his chin, she could probably even knock him out in the first round.

All the while Ryuko was thinking, Takaharu was calmly putting on a pair of red boxing gloves. "I wouldn't do what you're thinking about." He sang. "I'm a professional boxer, best of my age, and your dirty street fighting won't be able to bring me down."

"We'll test that theory out." She snarled and rushed right at him. But he just chuckled and jerked back his right hand. It seemed as if hundreds of his fists were flying at her and Ryuko let out a surprised gasp before it turned to grunts of pain. The fists fell like rain upon her and she'd managed to put up her arms to shield the worst of it, but they hurt like nothing she'd felt before, like she was being punched by rocks. She had to stop it, and blindly reaching forward managed to snag onto Takaharu's wrist. But before she could do anything he pulled back his left fist and clobbered her in her now unprotected face. She flew back onto her side of the ring, gasping for breath. Her head was ringing and she could barely hear the excited chants of her fellow classmates.

"These gloves are special, baby." Takaharu explained, looking perfectly serene as if he hadn't just thrown who the fuck knows how many punches at her. "They're made of a special fiber that makes them as hard as steel and gives me the ability to move my fists super-fast."

"Isn't that cheating?" Ryuko mumbled out, the question more for the teacher than for Takaharu. But the teacher who was just watching the fight with his arms crossed shook his head no. "The enemy is not always fair, Matoi. But you have to figure out how to work past it."

Ryuko groaned and swallowed a mouth full of blood flavored spit before heading towards her enemy again. She approached him slowly watching for the slightest hint of movement from his hands that indicated he would throw a punch. She had to get close to him, but his fists had more than a normal range of distance.

He swung at her and she just barely managed to dodge, the air next to her ear whooshing loudly as the fist missed, but then he was throwing punches all over the place again and all Ryuko could do was dodge. She wiggled to the left and to the right, the air around her a blur of gloved fists before one finally caught up to her and smacked her right in the face. She was sent reeling back to her side of the ring.

"That concludes round one!" Mako announced as she jumped up in the middle of the ring with a board that signaled a two minute break. Then she zipped over to Ryuko's side and started massaging her shoulders. "You got this. You've fought Yakuza gangs, and hardcore criminals; he's just a kid with gloves." She pep talked as she poured cold water into Ryuko's mouth. Ryuko nodded her head. Mako was right; she'd fought against worst odds. So what if this kid had some magical gloves, she could take him on.

Mako jumped back into the ring a huge board announcing the beginning of round two.

"Fight!" the crowd, which had come closer to the ring, cried out. Ryuko threw herself into the fight with renewed vigor. She'd let herself take a couple hits in order to draw closer to him and then strike him when his defenses were down. One thing Ryuko knew, was that she could take a lot of damage and she was gonna use that to her advantage.

But even that plan didn't work. Takaharu's flying fists never let up, each time pelting her with steel punches and then lobbing one huge hit at her that sent her to the other side of the ring. This continued over and over again and he didn't seem to get tired no matter how many punches he threw. But Ryuko was certainly starting to tire. Blood trickled from her nose and she felt one eye about to swell up shut. Breathing hard she rested on the ropes trying to rethink her plan. Maybe she could just endure until all three rounds were done? But then that wasn't a true victory to her, that was as good as failing and Ryuko knew she could beat him.

Takaharu sniggered from where he was standing; the little rascal hadn't moved an inch ever since the fight started. Ryuko ground her fists together. It was time for an action change. She ran at him, changing her path ever so often to confuse him. She ran at him than retreated, then ran to his left side, then retreated or ran to his right side but then quickly circled around him. This made Takaharu confused. He didn't manage to position his body to face her, in certain cases, on time and Ryuko let out a grin. So what if his hands flew like lightning. The rest of his body was slow compared to that.

She circled around him and extended her fist meant to catch him in the back of his head. It connected and she felt the thrill as flesh meet flesh, but her grin faded as his torso contorted to the left, and he quickly swung around his fist connecting with her temple.

Everything sounded fuzzy and the world was dark. Ryuko could hear the sound of the crowd roaring and clapping but wondered why. Was she in a dream?  _What happened?_  She felt so warm now, her body weightless and floating on nothing.

5…

Someone was counting down, but why? She didn't want them to count down. Their voice aggravated on her nerves, interrupting her peace. She could now feel a cold material against her back as feeling slowly returned to her limbs. She twitched her fingers for good measure and felt them brush against something.

4…

"Ryuko-chan!" a shrill voice cried out standing out from the buzzing in her ears. "Ryuko-chan, you've got to get up! You have to finish the match. You can't let him win!" That's right; Ryuko had been in a match. But against who? Memories of flying fists dotted her vision, the four corners of a ring, a big burly man with no hair. Her fingers clenched instinctively into fists. She had to get up and finish this.

3…

She willed her body to move and she could slowly feel it responding. A muscle twitched here, a muscle twitched there. "Ryuko-chan you have to hurry and get up!" the shrill voice, no, Mako's voice reminded her.  _I'm trying,_ Ryuko seethed. Strength began to trickle back in and she tensed her muscles ready to get up.

2…

She sat up, the movement sending her mind reeling. She blindly grabbed out with her right hand, brushing against some ropes before grasping onto them. She used them to pull herself up as her legs unsteadily tried to support her weight, but they wobbled shakily and she dropped down to her knees.

"Look she's trying to get up!"

"She'll never make it!"

"All talk no bite!"

"She's gonna lose, figures."

"She doesn't look like she'll make it!" Voices called out commenting on her progress.  _Shut up_ , she thought bitterly.

"Ryuko-chan! I believe in you!" the one voice Ryuko needed to hear. She smiled, wincing at the pain it caused her.

1…

Summoning a great surge of strength she pulled herself up to her full height, hand never leaving the ropes. She forced open her eyes wincing at the brightness in front of her. Her head spun as she adjusted to the visuals before she sent a shit eating grin to Takaharu. The crowd went wild. "Omg she did it!" was followed by other cries of astonishment.

Takaharu who had been previously smiling about his easy victory let his grin fall.

"Thought you were done with me? Well bad news pal. I don't go down that easy, especially against a kid in magical gloves."

Takaharu snarled, "I'm not a kid. I'm twenty years old! And big words for someone who can't even stand up by herself."

"Round three, begin!" Mako announced and the fighters got ready to go at it again.

Takaharu didn't wait for Ryuko to make the first move; he cocked his left fist back and let it fly. But Ryuko was ready. When she'd been flat on her ass, her fingers had brushed against something sharp that she carried in her pockets. It was her half scissor blade that her dad had made her. She'd made it into a keychain because she didn't know what else to do with it, and carried it around with her in memory of him.

She pulled it out as Takaharu's fist approached her and slashed at it. The knife was meet with no resistance, shredding the material of the glove like it was water. Takaharu let out an astonished cry as he withdrew his fist and glanced at the ruined material. Blood ran down his knuckles where the knife had met flesh and he let out a hiss. "My gloves, my gloves! How dare you ruin them."

"Heh, bet ya didn't see that coming," Ryuko smiled triumphantly as she pulled herself off of the ropes and took a powerful stance in front of him. "The streets have come back for vengeance, and they're meaner than ever."

Ryuko approached Takaharu slowly, who was watching Ryuko cautiously now.  _If only the blade could be longer_ , Ryuko mused,  _then I could-_

As if hearing her thoughts the blade vibrated under her palm and extended to a length that nearly resembled her height. The red blade gleamed menacingly in the light and Ryuko let out a, "Holy shit."

"That's cheating!" Takaharu hissed but the teacher just shook his head no.

"Oi, this is interesting," Ryuko smiled and gave the sword a couple of practice swings causing Takaharu to jump backwards in fear. The blade sliced through the air perfectly, its weight almost next to nothing in Ryuko's hand. She'd never fought with a sword before but it felt right; like it was an extension of her arm.

"Afraid now?" Ryuko prompted and ran at her opponent slashing each and every way. Takaharu just backed up, his eyes following the blade closely, until he reached the ropes on his side; he was cornered with nowhere to go. Letting out a battle cry he flung himself at her, lobbing both fists in maddening fury but Ryuko blocked all of them with her blade. With another cry, Takedara leapt up hoping to get above Ryuko's impermeable shield of a sword but Ryuko was ready. Using the blunt edge of the sword she struck him in the neck with it, causing him to tumble to his knees.

"Thirty seconds for the last round!" Ryuko heard the teacher call out. Ryuko debated: should she knock her opponent out or keep him at bay for the last seconds?

Nah, she'd knock him out. Still using the blunt side of her blade Ryuko swung it down on Takedara's head hard. His chin rushed to meet the floor and he stayed like that, not getting up even when the countdown ended.

The sound of bells signaled her victory and Mako rushed up to her friend's side pulling her arm up in a sign of victory. "You won! You won!" She shouted. Ryuko raised her other arm up with the blade in it, the red gleam shining extra bright. Ryuko caught her face reflected in it and smiled. She looked terribly bruised up, but she had won.

She'd gone to the nurse's office after class, which would be more accurately described if it was called a hospital, where she'd had her injuries treated. She would have a lot of bruises but nothing too serious. As Ryuko gripped the ice bag closely to her face and grabbed her book bag with her other hand she smiled. Okay, so maybe today hadn't been all bad. The rush from her victory had managed to almost erase all the bad events prior. Maybe she could even withstand the strict as hell regulations here if she could pound the shit out of people.

She hurried over to her dorm, being excused from her Zumba class, finding that Mako had left her a nice warm plate of croquettes. "They'll make you feel better," the note attached to it said and Ryuko smiled at her best friend's thoughtfulness.

She was about to shove one into her mouth when a certain jacket dropped off the hanger it had been on and placed itself in between her and the croquettes, hands on hips.

"What happened to you?" Senketsu demanded to know and Ryuko had let out an annoyed sigh. She'd forgotten about this creation of her father's.

"I got into a fight in class. I won. Long story short stay, out of my fucking business."

"Uh uh," the jacket tsked. "You're such a mess. If you'd worn me, you'd have avoided this damage."

"But I'm not going to wear you," Ryuko answered back, eating the food in her hand and then trying to get another past the form of Senketsu. He slapped her hand away.

"I'd be a failure if I didn't do what your father said and protected you!" Senketsu roared and then launched himself at her.

"Hey cut it out!" Sounds of breaking objects and objects being thrown were barely audible over the screams and shouts. Ryuko's suitemates looked on confusedly before they shrugged and went back to their own business.


	4. It All Started with Senketsu Being an Idiot

The rest of Ryuko's week at Honnouji University had been a disaster to say the least. She'd woken up earlier for her punishments, but that caused her to get less sleep and therefore fall asleep in class which led to more reprimanding. Then she'd gotten in trouble for chewing gum or for breathing too loudly during tests: all small stupid things, which lead her to  _even more_  punishments. She'd grit her teeth and accepted it; she wasn't the only one getting in trouble. A lot of her classmates were getting called in for the stupidest stuff too, like being too loud in the hallways. Ryuko found this all very stupid and unfair but didn't say anything out loud about it, just under her breath. And Senketsu only made it worse for her. After he'd attacked her in her dorm, she'd broken the window after throwing him out of it. As punishment she had to go wash all the windows on campus, and there was a shit ton of those. Ryuko felt her arms would fall off her body once she was done. Senketsu had tried to apologize to Ryuko for getting her in trouble but-

"Ryuko I'm sorry that you are in this predicament but if you had just put me on like I told you too…. hey Ryuko what are you doing? Put me down this instant! Hey, keep that dirty water away from me!" Senketsu let out a scream as Ryuko dipped him in the bucket of cleaning fluid and water and began washing windows with him. "All is forgiven," she grinned evilly as she began to scrub back and forth with him.

"Help!" he screamed.

But Senketsu seemed driven to put himself on her. Ryuko had been washing up, lost in her daydreams about wiping the smirks off of everyone's faces in the discipline department, when the shower door creaked open. Ryuko hadn't notcied because she was still absorbed in her thoughts until she felt something cold and leathery on her ankle. Immediately she looked down and saw Senketsu there.

"You pervert!" she screamed, kicking with her other foot. He sailed over the shower door landing on the bathroom floor, but Ryuko didn't stop there. She ripped open the door and pointed her finger accusingly at the offending piece of material.

"You get close to me like that again and I'll use you as a washcloth for my bum next time, ya hear!" then she slammed the shower door close again and resumed her shower.

Senketsu let out a sigh, "Maybe this wasn't the best place to try."

So he tried when Ryuko went to the dining hall, but that just lead to a big disaster. Ryuko looking forward to some homemade croquettes that Mako had left her, brought out the box in which they were and upon opening it Senketsu popped out at her.

"Ahh!" Ryuko let out a surprised scream bolting out of her chair and jolting the tray of a passing by student. The food tipped onto his clothes and he let out an angry growl. "Shit," Ryuko breathed when she'd looked up at him. He was literally a tower of muscle and was very angry now. She did what was best and ran, followed by Senketsu yelling, "now's a good time, put me on!" and a very angry man. Of course Ryuko had gotten in trouble for that too. She was sent to the discipline department for disrupting the peace and for harassing students.

After she'd left she pinched one of Senketsu's lapels and growled at him, "Stay away from me!"

"But Ryuko you don't understand, I'm here to help you not harm you."

"Blah blah blah," Ryuko mimicked a talking mouth with her hand. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have dishes to wash at the dining hall to make up for my disturbance."

But of course Senketsu wasn't put off; he snuck his way into Ryuko's book bag and followed her to class one day.

"Pst, Ryuko," he whispered to her during class. Ryuko looked down at him as he spoke to her from inside her bag. Then with a resigned look on her face she took the bag, opened the window closest to her, grabbed him and threw him out the window before returning to her seat and pretending she didn't hear her jackets cries as he fell down five stories.

"Ryuko, throwing objects out windows is a danger. You could kill someone like that! Detention," the teacher uttered.

"Oh course," Ryuko mumbled dejectedly and left the class.

After that incident Ryuko taped Senketsu up in her closet.

"There," she cried satisfactorily. "Now you can't go anywhere"

"Ryuko don't be absurd," Senketsu tried to say as he struggled in the tape bonds, but because of the tape covering his mouth it just sounded like mumbled words.

"Bye," Ryuko waved, tossing her tape away and heading off to class.

"Come back!" he growled and struggled even harder against the tape.

The day sailed along smoothly and Ryuko felt she could finally relax. Without the worry of Senketsu appearing out of nowhere she could actually pay attention to class. Fight club soon approached and Ryuko felt eager to partake in it. She hadn't had a fight since her first day and was aching for one to relieve all the tension from the week. So it was with great joy that she found out that she was going to fight another match, against a girl with long blonde hair done in two high pigtails.

"Omiko and Ryuko get into your places," the teacher instructed and the whole room around them changed this time. The ground became a tennis court and all the students were forced into spectator boxes around them.

Ryuko glanced over her opponent, analyzing her. She was tall, clad in a gray dress, but lean looking so that meant she'd probably be fast. And what weapon did she specialize in? Given the surroundings, probably something to do with tennis. Ryuko had noticed about these matches that everyone had some special sort of weapon they used and the matches would often take the physical look of whatever these weapons revolved around. For example, her fight with Takaharu lent the space to looking like a boxing ring because of his boxing gloves, and this was a tennis court because of Omiko's –

"-Tennis racket." Ryuko snapped out of her thoughts. Had Omiko just read her mind? No, she was talking and Ryuko hadn't realized it earlier. "I call it the server cause I'm going to use it to serve ya!" Omiko giggled her sharp teeth flashing in the light as she pulled out her racket. It was covered in spikes and big, almost as big as her and Ryuko wondered how she could hold it up without straining herself.

 _Woah, she has shark teeth, freaky! And that tennis racket looks deadly._ Ryuko thought as she pulled out her blade. It instantly grew to its full length. Ryuko had practiced with it so that it was as easy as breathing to transform her blade back and forth.

Giving it a practice swing she took a defensive stance on her end of the field and Omiko mimicked her, holding her tennis racket up.

"First to be pushed outside the lines of the court loses. Remember keep it civil," the teacher reminded before he pressed the buzzer signaling the start of the match. Immediately both girls charged at each other and the crowd cheered as metal clashed against metal.  _Steel racket huh,_  Ryuko thought as she pulled away and swung again,  _better not let that hit me._  The two girls went at it back and forth until Ryuko lost count of how many times she had swung. None of them had made any substantial gains in ground. If one girl moved back an inch, she would soon regain it and vice versa.

Ryuko's arms were tired and she cursed the fact that she had to wash so many dishes yesterday. If they didn't hurt she could have easily surpassed her opponent. Sweat was pouring down her back and her face was red. Omiko looked to be in the same condition. Both girls breathing heavily jumped back from each other and appraised each other as they caught their breath.

"I'm surprised that you've managed to make my serving arm tire. Takes a lot to do that," Omiko said as she tried to work out a crick in her right shoulder with her left hand.

"Yea, well if my arms weren't so sore you wouldn't have a serving arm by this point," Ryuko muttered as she eyed her opponent. She couldn't afford to let her guard down once. Omiko frowned, her sharp teeth digging into her bottom lip.

"Since you've continued to try fighting instead of deciding to be a good little loser and falling to my racket, I'm going to have to get ballsy." Omiko giggled at her pun as she reached under her dress.

"Oi- what are you doing?" Ryuko panicked but Omiko just giggled more. "Relax, virgin I'm just pulling these out." She held up a tennis ball in her hand.  _Oh so that's what she meant by ballsy_ , Ryuko breathed a sigh of relief which then turned to panic again as suddenly her sword was knocked out of her hands, and spinning through the air lodged itself into the ground just outside of the court. The audience let out a collective ooo, and Ryuko swallowed hard. She had no weapon to fight with now. If she went outside the ring to grab it, she would be disqualified.

Meanwhile Senketsu had finally chewed through all of his wrappings and spitting out the awful taste of tape, hopped out of the room looking for Ryuko. He sensed that she was in danger.

"Don't worry Ryuko you can still do this!" Mako's encouragement came from somewhere in the stands but Ryuko certainly did not feel too optimistic. She had no weapon to defend herself against Omiko's attacks.

"Heh, feeling the burn?" Omiko smiled, her shark toothed grin stretching from ear to ear. "Or more like the bruise?" Omiko pointedly looked at Ryuko's hand which had been holding the sword. Ryuko followed the gaze to find a purple bruise there.

"What did you do," she demanded looking up, her gaze hardening on her opponent before something struck her in her face hard. Grabbing her nose which was now streaming torrents of blood Ryuko tried to hold back a hiss of pain.

"You wanna know what I did? I'm just throwing tennis balls at ya. They don't call me the unstoppable server for nothing." Omiko juggled some more tennis balls in her hands. "And I think it's my time to serve!" Omiko's next movements were a flash of motion. She threw the tennis balls in the air and then hit them with her racket so hard they were practically invisible. They struck Ryuko in the gut and she doubled over breathing hard.

"Let's spice things up shall we?" Omiko sent more balls into the air before connecting her racket with each and every one. A barrage of invisible balls flew at Ryuko and she put her hands up to protect herself grunting in pain as the balls connected with her flesh and bone, sending unpleasant shocks throughout her body.

The crowd was chanting Omiko's name as she sent serve after serve, not that Ryuko could hear anyway. The balls whistled past her, scraping skin and opening gashes, when they didn't hit her direct on.

"Come on guys, root for Ryuko too!" Mako jumped onto the edge of the seating box and raised her hands above her head. "Ryuko's awesome too. She may not have balls, but she has guts and lots of fighting spirit. She's also got a huge rack and who doesn't love that!" Mako yelled at the audience through a megaphone and suddenly some people started cheering for Ryuko too.

Senketsu finally reached the classroom that Ryuko was having her class in. He could heard sounds of battle coming from within and swallowed nervously before pushing the door open.

Ryuko dropped to her knees, blood dripping from multiple gashes on her body and pooling around her, soaking into the discarded tennis balls around her. Bruises dotted her flesh like the stars in the sky and she could barely see out of her left eye. She was breathing heavily, her clothing lying in tatters around her along with the remains of her will.

"Wow, you're still alive- that's crazy. No one's ever stood up to my attack like that before." Omiko's eyes were wide open in shock, but then she shrugged. "Well I'm out of balls now so I'll just have to bludgeon you to finish you off." She gripped her tennis racket and slowly approached the girl.

Ryuko was focusing hard on staying conscious. Everything hurt and she wasn't sure she could do it anymore. She just didn't have the strength to go on and the thought of Omiko finishing her off with the racket just stressed her more. She was deciding if she should take the hits and see how long she could make it or if she should just pass out. But Mako's voice entered her battered ears. "Ryuko!" she could just make out her name and she smiled. Yea, she was Ryuko. She didn't just give up. She had to try. Ryuko took a deep breath and clenched her fists when she felt something hugging her from behind.

"Ryuko, it's me Senketsu." The jacket spoke and Ryuko rolled her eyes. "I don't have time for you now."

"Please just put me on, I can help you," the jacket pleaded and Ryuko sighed; she had nothing left to lose now, there was no harm in trying him on just this once. "Fine let's see if you're actually as good as you say you are." Ryuko stood up slowly and slipped Senketsu onto her shoulders.

"Hey, what's that?" Omiko asked suspiciously.

"Oh, this?" Ryuko asked innocently. "This is just my pain in the ass jacket. My father gave it to me." Senketsu felt warm and just right, like he belonged on Ryuko's shoulders. He whispered to her as she noticed this, "I'm gonna have to drink your blood to work."

And before Ryuko could protest he was doing so and suddenly tightening around her body. Ryuko let out a surprised scream as her jacket seemed to evolve. Fabric shot out this and that way, wrapping around her body and melding into her skin. Wind whipped around her picking up dust. She could feel a tightness gather in her stomach before it exploded outwards, sparks shooting from her fingertips.

"What's going on?" Ryuko asked confused.  _Don't worry its fine._  Senketsu's voice inside her head reassured her.  _Just let me handle this._  At last the transformation was done and Ryuko stood there in her new outfit power surging through her body. All her aches and pains had been separated from her body when those sparks had left her.

"I feel so different," Ryuko muttered clenching and unclenching her now gloved hands. She let her hands explore the rest of her black and red outfit. She had huge shoulder pads, Senketsu's red eyes staring up at her from just underneath, and armor seemed to encase her chest, abdomen and back. But she was wearing a skirt.

"Hey, what is this?" she hissed. "I hate skirts. Everyone's gonna see my underwear when I fight now. And what are these? Heels on knee high boots?! Are you crazy? I look like a stripper. How am I gonna fight in this?" Ryuko pulled at her outfit hurting Senketsu.

"Ryuko, we'll talk about that later for now can you focus on the fight please?"

"Oh right." Ryuko, remembering where she was let go of her outfit and looked at Omiko, who had a confused expression on her face.

"Other people can't hear me, only you can."

"Oh, so now I can look crazy too, that's great. I always wanted people to think I was talking to myself." Ryuko shook her head.  _Focus,_  she commanded herself and whispered to Senketsu, "How do I get my sword back?"

"Easy, just don't touch the ground," Senketsu told her and Ryuko shook her head again, how was she to do that? "Can you fly?" she asked.

"No."

"Then don't give me useless suggestions!" Ryuko grabbed at the front of her outfit, which she assumed to be Senketsu's face and yelled at him.

A cough. "Are you done over there? Did the barrage of tennis balls mess with your brain or something?" Omiko asked as she looked confusedly at Ryuko.

"Nope, she's been messed up like that for a while!" Mako chimed in from the stands. "But that's okay because she's Ryuko-chan!"

Ryuko turned to the stands to scold her friend when her eyes zoomed in the proximity of the spectator box's wall and the scissor blade. "Senketsu I sure hope you have the power to do this," Ryuko growled and ran toward the edge of her court. She leapt up just before her toes touched the line and landed on the wall of the stadium box. She ran ignoring the shocked cries of the audience, as she defied gravity, and when she was positioned in front of the blade she leapt hands forward. She grabbed the handle, and flipped over, her heels barely making it inside of the court, before the momentum of her leap dislodged the sword. Straightening up she held the sword in front of her both hands on it, a triumphant smirk on her face.

"That was cool!"

"How'd she do that?" came from the audience and Ryuko just smirked harder. "Not bad Senketsu." His energy filled her limbs with power and ease of movement.

Omiko who had just looked on, in shock, finally shook her head and pointed her racket at Ryuko. "Enough with the fancy footwork, so what if you got your sword back." She took a step forward and Ryuko put out a hand to stop her. "Uh uh. I don't know the rules of tennis, but I'm pretty sure now it's my serve. Stay right there."

Ryuko pulled a fiber from her outfit and wrapped it around the handle of her blade making a makeshift tennis racket. She grabbed one of the tennis balls around her and using her new racket hit it. It hit Omiko right in the forehead with a resounding boom. Omiko's head cracked back at an unnatural angle and Ryuko thought she'd finished her, if not for a low noise that gradually got louder and turned into a shriek of pain. Omiko's head snapped back up and she grabbed her forehead where a welt was already growing, tears in her eyes. "You..you!" she stammered before fixing Ryuko with an evil glare.

"Yes, it's me," Ryuko grabbed another a tennis ball and hit it towards Omiko who managed to raise her racket in time to deflect it, but to her surprise the ball went straight through the racket. Struggling to contain her disbelief, she glanced up at Ryuko who was still smirking. "Revenge is sweet," Ryuko lobbed ball after ball at Omiko who tried dodging them. The balls left steaming craters in the court on Omiko's end and Ryuko just laughed in glee. It was so fun to be this strong; she couldn't believe how much power Senketsu was giving her. And this wasn't even the tip of the iceberg.

"Ryuko hurry up, you already lost a lot of blood and I'm drinking a lot of yours. You'll faint soon if you don't finish this."

"Kill joy," Ryuko muttered. "Then don't drink so much," But she stopped throwing the balls; she'd run out anyways and zoomed over to Omiko's side of the court. Raising her scissor blade high she aimed at her opponent who tried to deflect with her racket only to have it cut in half.

"How is this possible," she sputtered clutching onto the broken ends of the tennis racket.

"Match is over Omiko." Ryuko then punched Omiko in the gut sending her flying past the line and into the wall where she left a dent.

A buzzer sounding, announcing Ryuko's victory. Mako appeared at her friend's side and Ryuko smiled as the audience chanted her name, but then suddenly everything started to get darker and her head felt fuzzy. Senketsu untransformed as Ryuko fell to the ground heavily.

Ryuko woke up in the hospital, an IV bag attached to her hand and bandages wrapped around her arms, legs and head. Her head still felt dizzy and light and she slowly sat up.

"Don't move too much Ryuko, you'll get sick. You lost a lot of blood." Senketsu's voice sounded from where he was slung onto a chair next to her.

"And whose fault is that?" she grumbled her throat parched and she picked at her uncomfortable hospital gown.

"Yours. If you had just worn me from the start…. Admit it I'm pretty cool huh." Senketsu gloated as Ryuko blushed.

"I use you once and now you've got a big head, huh?" Ryuko pinched at his lapel hurting him. He squirmed around in her grip and then he laid flat. Ryuko confused by this didn't have time to question it, when Mako came into the room she was being held in.

"I brought croquettes," she announced pulling a bento box from out of her shirt. The two girls ate in peace, discussing the events of the day, as the sun light behind the window slowly darkened and night fell.


	5. It All Started with an Exhibitionist

The rest of Ryuko's month at Honnouji University continued on without a hitch. She still did get in trouble ever so often, but it wasn't her fault, she swore it. She'd end up bumping into someone and they'd want to fight or she would just happen to forget chewing gum in class was forbidden. But she'd gotten better, managing only to get two strikes a day and just barely avoiding punishment by the skin of her teeth. And she hated to admit it but it was mostly thanks to Senketsu that this was possible. He would warn her most times when she was about to make an infraction and she'd grudgingly listen. He'd also taken to be worn by her constantly, on top of her same outfit of a white shirt and black pants with hightops. Everyday Ryuko would come in wearing a leather jacket whether it be rain, shine and later on snow. Mako had approved, saying her jacket was very pretty and Ryuko did have to agree it was top quality material, but that didn't mean she had to like him any better.

Someone however seemed to hate Ryuko's clothing choices more than she did and made it apparent.

"Ew you're so gross. Wearing the same clothes, every day. You should be ashamed to wear those rags. "

Ryuko who been busy eating her lunch on a bench outside, swiveled her head around to see a girl wearing a frilly pink dress, standing a few feet from her. She had two long curly blonde pigtails and a purple eye patch covered one of her eyes. Ryuko had never seen her before today.

"What do you want?" she growled half chewed food rotating around her mouth.

"Apparently the pig doesn't have manners either," the girl added placing a hand over her mouth in mock disgust.

"Ryuko don't let her incite you," Senketsu warned. "You've been doing great today, no strikes, don't start this." Ryuko closed her mouth and swallowed the words she'd about to say, along with another bite of sandwich.

"Did you grow up in a pig sty or something? Can't speak now either? My words too intelligent for you?"

Ryuko started chewing her sandwich harder and looked away. But the girl just positioned herself in front of her and smiled menacingly. Ryuko turned her head away again only to find the girl right in front of her. The girl then reached out and quick as a flash slapped the sandwich onto Ryuko's white shirt, one of her last good ones.

Ryuko got up quickly her fists curling.

"Sit down, don't start this," Senketsu warned. "She's… she's different from the other students on campus. I can feel this power radiating off of her." Senketsu shivered goose bumps rising on his leather.

But Ryuko wasn't listening. How dare someone call her a pig just because she didn't have the money to afford more clothes? So what if she wore the same jeans and shirt weeks on end. She washed them, they were clean.

"Life fiber synchronize!" Ryuko let out a cry that she'd come up with in order to signal her magical transformation. Soon she was standing in front of the girl scissor blade in hand. "Ryuko…" Senketsu started but the girl hushed him. "We've practiced, we can take her on."

The girl giggled behind her hand. "My my, what spectacular clothing. Now this is better than that crap you were wearing. Isshin truly could make great work."

"Isshin…Isshin?" Ryuko sputtered. "How do you know my father?"

"Wouldn't you want to know?" the mysterious girl giggled again, a malicious one that sent shivers up and down her spine. "Well now that I've seen what I wanted to see, I'll be on my way." And with that the girl opened up an umbrella she'd pulled out from behind her back, and jumping up, allowed the breeze to carry her away.

"Wait, I have questions to ask you!" Ryuko yelled shaking her fist at the sky.

The girl who had floated up higher and higher almost a dot in the sky now said "Reach for the top Ryuko. I think Lady Satsuki might have some answers." And then with that she was gone.

Ryuko untransformed, shivers running up and down her spine. "What the hell was that? And what does Satsuki have anything to do with this?"

The rest of the day was spent in deep thought until she finally reached Zumba class were, to the soft beat of African drums, the class slowly stretched and talked to one another before beginning their dance routines.

"I just don't understand, Mako." Ryuko grunted as she stretched out her quads. "Who is she? A family friend?"

"Don't worry Ryuko. You and Senketsu will figure it out."

"Senketsu?" Ryuko sputtered out craning her neck to look at Mako who was now doing a handstand.

"I see you talking to your jacket sometimes. Its okay I still love you Ryuko. I sometimes talk to my hands. It's completely fine." Mako jumped back onto her feet before going into a bridge, followed by rolling into a ball.

"Uh, thanks I guess," Ryuko didn't know how to approach this topic so she decided not extending it might be better.

"Ayyy Matoi!" a tall blue haired man wearing sweats approached her and she let out a groan. "Need a stretch partner?" he offered sitting down in front of her.

"No thanks Aikuro, I have Mako," Ryuko gestured to Mako who was doing jumping jacks and then alternating to jogging and running around in circles.

The man, Aikuro let out a laugh. "I think she's a bit preoccupied." He and Ryuko had gotten to know each other in the department of discipline. He was there as often if not more than her, for, get this, stripping constantly. He talked to Ryuko incessantly and she'd eventually started responding but that didn't mean she thought of him as a friend which he evidently viewed her as. And despite her frigid attitude he still approached her.

"Fine," Ryuko huffed, a strand of her red hair streak blowing up in exasperation. They did a couple of exercises together in silence which Ryuko was thankful for before he broke it and she let out an inaudible groan.

"I'm throwing a party this week," he announced and Ryuko's groan became a grunt of surprise. "For real? Are you insane?"

"Nah, just looking for fun. It's been a month and we haven't had a party yet. I just wanna get wasted man. I can drink and be a perfect student on the week."

Ryuko snorted at the perfect student part but didn't comment on it. "Don't you remember what happened to the last party thrown?" Some brave students had tried to throw a party. Everyone there was arrested and thrown out, the alcohol and weed burned and the host of the party was punished publically in the plaza as a warning to all. Ryuko had only managed to escape that fate because she been late stuck between picking out an appropriate party outfit. No one else had tried after that.

"Yea I remember," Aikuro grunted as Ryuko pressed down on his back as he bent over to stretch his toes. "But I've the perfect plan. I'm gonna cause a distraction on a separate part of campus. I've set fireworks to go off on a timer which should keep them occupied for three hours and in the meantime we can have a little gathering in my room. Nothing too big," Ryuko got off his back and he straightened up smirking at her, sweat dripping from his face.

_Huh, that's pretty smart,_ but Ryuko didn't say it out loud. "What about the booze?"

"I made my own in the bathtub. Its moonshine."

"The shit that makes people go blind?"

"Not if you make it right," the proud grin Aikuro had faded, replaced by a helpless shrug.

"Everyone let's get to dancing now!" their teacher clapped her hands over the music and students started getting up from the mats on the floor and heading to the dance studio.

"I'll talk to you after class. I want you to come and help me out," Aikuro stated heading over.

"Why me?" Ryuko asked and Aikuro just smiled. "You look like you know how to start trouble." He added and then pointed at Mako. "You might wanna help your friend there." Then he headed off to the dance studio.

Ryuko shook her head. Should she take that as a compliment? "Just don't strip in class so I can actually talk to you afterwards." She called after him.

"No promises," was the reply.

Ryuko then turned her attention to helping Mako who was so tangled up she resembled a pretzel.

Saturday, the designated day of the party approached faster than expected and pretty soon Aikuro's dorm room was full of people who were chatting in hushed tones. Ryuko who had been there since nine pm helping to set up flashing lights, filling cups and adjusting the music, was surprised. "Didn't know you knew this many people."

"Oh come on, give me some credit." Aikuro handed her a red solo cup before hanging an arm around her. She quickly shrugged it and took the spot next to the wall. He was also too clingy and touchy in her opinion. The only reason a person could possibly want to touch her was to rough her up and so she didn't like these causal touches because she didn't know how to react to them.

Aikuro didn't look at all fazed by this sudden retreat. "These are all my friends from the discipline department."

"Shit, you got us a bunch of troublemakers and expect us not to get caught?" the people in the room all looked shady and looking for trouble, muscles and scars glistening in the dim light from the string lights. Unfortunately Mako couldn't make it. She said she had some work for her class and couldn't miss it.

Aikuro didn't answer as he went around and greeted his friends and handed out cups of alcohol. The noise level in the room rose as people began to chat more animatedly and music began to pour from the mini speakers that had been set up. It was now ten and the party was officially started. Eventually, Aikuro circled his way around back to Ryuko and took the space next to her by the wall.

"Nah we'll be good." He reassured and Ryuko took a contemplative sip of her drink, her face cringing up. "What is this? It takes like fucking drain cleaner."

"Hmmm maybe that slipped in there by accident," Aikuro mussed and Ryuko's head snapped around in shock.

He took a sip, "Yup definitely drain cleaner." Ryuko's cup clenched in her hands and her brows shot up on her face, disappearing into her hairline.

"I'm just kidding calm down," Aikuro added after seeing her reaction. "Seriously calm down."

"CAL-" Ryuko started but Senketsu manipulated Ryuko's arm and forced her to gulp down the foul liquid.

"Quiet down," he chided. "Let's not start problems. You wanna party than do so but don't start something that could get you caught."

Ryuko swallowed the liquid down but listened. He was right, regrettably, and she did want to enjoy the party.

"Hey let me show you this." Aikuro gestured for Ryuko to follow him to his window. Holding up a clicker he pressed a button in the direction of some buildings. A couple of seconds passed before bright explosions and noises filled the air. "Holy shit is that the fireworks?" Ryuko gulped down more alcohol. "Where'd you get them from?"

"I made them myself. It took me a month to make them but it was worth it." Aikuro sipped from his cup as the glare of the fireworks reflected off of his tan features.

"Shit is that a fire?" Ryuko gasped some liquid spilling down her chin. One of the buildings had caught on fire and she could only imagine people freaking out as campus security ran around trying to organize stuff.

"Yup," Aikuro commented calmly before turning away from the window and placing an arm around Ryuko's shoulders. This time she didn't shrug it off. She'd thought he was just a weird pervert but he was actually hardcore. "Shit Aikuro for a freaky exhibitionist your actually alright."

Aikuro let out a laugh before dragging her closer into the dancing crowd. "I have a friend I want you to meet, his name's Kinagase. I think you two will get along well."

They slipped through the slowly intoxicating figures and made it to the other side of the room where a lone figure was standing against the wall hidden in deep shadows, only the glow of his cigarette visible.

"Ryuko this is my friend Kinagase." Aikuro gestured towards the shadows and the figure leaned out into the dim lights. He was a tall dark skinned guy with a red tinged Mohawk. He was ripped and his biceps bulged were he kept them crossed in front of his chest.

"I'm not your friend. I'm your roommate," the scorn in the man's voice matched the deeply disapproving look on his face before it deepened into a full facial scowl as he looked to Ryuko. "What's your name?" he demanded and Ryuko felt inclined to wipe that look off his face, it was making the hairs on her neck stand out in anger but Senketsu reminded her to stay calm and she tried. She must have been feeling the alcohol because she didn't question Senketsu's judgment.

"That's Ryuko," Aikuro answered raising the last drops of liquid to his lips.

"I'm Ryuko," she restated and tried to muster up her best facial scowl as well, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "And I'm not his friend either." Kinagase just looked at her before the edges of his scowl lifted up.

"You're alright," he stated before he leaned back onto the wall disappearing into the shadows. His lit cigarette glowed before smoke billowed out and into Ryuko's face.

"Come my cup needs to be refilled." Aikuro put a hand on Ryuko's shoulder startling her. Ryuko followed him, noticing that her cup had also become empty mysteriously.

"So I'm not your friend?" Aikuro inquired as he filled his cup. "I'm hurt, I thought after overcoming the trials of all those punishments and the terrible dance classes we would at least have some sort of bond."

"Shut up," Ryuko growled but it had no bite. The alcohol had made her head a bit fuzzy and she felt a smile tugging her lips. "I'm not friends with perverts. Shit how strong is this? Was the room always this wobbly?"

"I'm not a pervert. I just don't understand how people can wanna wear such restricting clothing all the time. And it's moonshine; I don't know how much is in it." Aikuro chugged his cup in one go and then set it down with a bang on his desk. "Is it me or is it hot in here?" His collared shirt which he had worn for the party had mysteriously unbuttoned itself and was now slowly sliding down his arms, revealing more and more toned skin by the minute.

"Hey, put your shirt back on!" Ryuko yelled a blush spreading on her cheeks.

Ryuko lost track of how much time had gone by or how much she had drank. She and Aikuro had spent the night chatting on his bed as they watched the rest of his friends roll around on the floor or throw playful punches at each other. She couldn't remember what the conversations were about, but she did know it was a lot of fun and eventually at some point Kinagase had joined, painfully sober and smelling of so much smoke. They were having so much fun in finally a month when suddenly a bright light came in through the window. Everyone in the room squinted at the bright light, stopping their activities.

"Everyone in the room is to remain exactly where they are. You are all now under the custody of the school. Do not make any attempts to flee," the loud voice coming from the window was swiftly ignored as the students stampeded out of the door and started running.

"Shit," Ryuko hopped off the bed her knees unstable. "Shee ya laterz Aikuro I aint going to prizon." And she bolted out the door leaving a panicked Aikuro. Screams could be heard coming from everywhere and Ryuko took a deep breath to steady herself. Drunken students were bolting left and right as campus security was in the building now and they were chasing them back and forth. Where could she go to escape?

"Ryuko follow my advice, I can get you out of here," Senketsu urged her and she nodded her head up and down vigorously causing her to get dizzier. Following Senketsu's advice Ryuko soon found herself leaving through a back exit of the doors next to the dumpsters. Sticking close to the walls she sneaked a peek at what was happening. Several students had been accosted and were tied up in rope, on their knees and heads down in shame. A bunch of guards were surrounding them and temporary floodlights had been set up around them blinding the victims. And there amongst the crowd was a familiar mop of blue hair.

"Shit, they even got Aikuro and Mohawk guy too," Kinagase was not looking all too happy to have been captured.

"We have to help them," Ryuko breathed with drunken determination.

"We are doing no such thing, you are going to bed. You can barely stand on your feet, how do you expect to help them." Senketsu tugged Ryuko's body into the direction of her room, but Ryuko resisted. Instead she latched onto the drain pipe of the dorm and started climbing.

"Ryuko what are doing?" Senketsu struggled against her but Ryuko bit down hard on his lapel and he let out a shriek. "Shutrup, let me focus on this unless you want me to fall."

The climb up didn't take long as the dorms were only two stories up.

"Ryuko please tell you're not going to do what I think you are," the jacket fretted as Ryuko peered over the edge of the roof at the group of captured students.

"I'm gonna jump down and save them. Quick transform Senks," Ryuko spread out her arms waiting for the transformation but when it didn't happen she looked down at Senketsu's face where her teeth marks were still visible.

"Ryuko you're intoxicated and if I drink your blood then I won't be able to control my powers making everyone around you in danger. I'll become drunk just like you. So you see, I can't let do it. We can always save them later. It's better if you go to sleep."

"….I shee," Ryuko sat down with a huff cross-legged on the roof. She stared out at the scene below her and didn't say anything for a moment. Her eyes lazily followed the guards as they moved around, dragging students with them and loading them up into trucks that had arrived now. The jacket relaxed as she seemed to lose her desire to save others. "Senks you said you would protect me right?" She said at last letting out a sigh.

"Yes, that's why I was created," Senketsu said proudly.

"Then," Ryuko got up with a grunt leaning heavily on her one leg. "If I was in danger you'd help me righty?"

"Yea…." Senketsu said feeling uneasy.

Ryuko, in one fluid motion tore off her jacket and jumped off the edge of the building. "Come save me then, Senketsu." The jacket watched in horror as she disappeared over the edge. Then without another thought he flung himself after her, her name screaming from his throat. Ryuko didn't seem to notice he had followed her and pulled out her scissor blade as Senketsu caught up with her and wrapped his leathery arms around her. She transformed in midair and landed in the middle of the encircled students with an impact that cracked the ground and sent the students flying past the guards.

"I'm here.. to shave ya," Ryuko muttered as she let out a loud hiccup. Senketsu just as he had predicted was in fact feeling inebriated and his eyes now span like swirls as he let out his own hiccups.

The guards let out growls and moved to capture her but Ryuko swung her sword around causing great bursts of power that sent guard and student alike flying along with some cement. "Woah, ish have so much power," Ryuko swung her sword blindly, deaf to the screams of chaos. She'd knocked out a couple of the floodlights by now and it was harder to see in the darkness.

One voice stuck out to her amidst the fight- Aikuro's.

"Hey buddy won't you let me pass?" Aikuro was worming away on his bound hands and knees but was now blocked by a giant sumo wrestling looking guy. The guy clad in campus security gear raised his foot to stomp Aikuro in the face but instead found it blocked firmly by Ryuko's blade.

"Ryuko…" Aikuro in his drunken stupor recognized his not-friend.

"Go," she grunted as she tried to keep the full weight of the sumo up with her blade.

Nodding his appreciation he inchwormed away to freedom. Ryuko finally pushed the giant unbalancing him and he stumbled backwards before trying to charge at her. Ryuko swung her blade, releasing a force of power that blasted him into the entrance of an academic building, and also losing her grip on the blade.

"Ah shit," Ryuko feebly reached out a hand towards her blade before falling to the ground on her knees. Her head hurt and so did her stomach. Grabbing onto her hair, she felt two pairs of hands grab her from behind.

"Ryuko Matoi," one of them barked his voice harsh in her ear, "You have the right to-"

"Throw up," Ryuko muttered as she doubled over and spewed forth the contents of her stomach. Once she was done she let her head lean back on one of the guards who muttered about how she'd ruined his shoes, and let the warmth take her.


End file.
